My latest for Wall St. Journal Saturday Essay: The Culture War Behind Iran’s Protests

Only a small minority support the theocratic regime, but the country’s various factions remain divided over visions for its future

Dear friends,

you can read my latest essay for the Wall St. Journal Saturday Essay here The Culture War Behind Iran’s Protests

I conclude the essay thus:

The Khomeinists in charge of the Islamic Republic have demonstrated their capacity to prevail over recurring sporadic protests and to neutralize most of their opponents. But the struggle for control will likely continue unless or until a fourth vision emerges—one that can encompass all three societal projects. Such a vision would require the groups to arrive at some tolerable compromise, achievable perhaps only through a rough balance of power. This would come hardest to the Khomeinist faction, which would have to step away from its absolutist worldview and eschew its exclusive claims to legitimacy.

The protesters have thrown down a moral as well as a civic challenge that calls on all Iranians to start a new conversation about what, collectively, they can and should envision for their future—a future in which all Iranians can feel at home.

Read the full essay here The Culture War Behind Iran’s Protests .